LEGUME FAMILY (LEGUMINOSAE) 



MIMOSA SUBFAMILY (MIMOSOIDEAE; MIMOSACEAE) 



64. Guaba 



Gnabii, tlie commonest coffee shade tree and also 

 native or naturalized in wet forests, is easily dis- 

 tinp;uished by: (1) alternate pinnate hairy leaves 

 with ?>-5 pairs of elliptic to oblong, stalkless, slight- 

 ly droopnig leaflets on a winged axis bearing a 

 minute round j'ellow-green gland between each 

 pair; (2) lateral clusters of several large whitish 

 flowers with long threadlike stamens 214-3 inches 

 long and 3-3% inches across but soon wilting; (3) 

 hairy pods 4—6 inches long and 1/0-% i"ch in diam- 

 eter, nearly cylindrical Ijut 4-ribbed and with 2 

 broad longitudinal grooves, and containing white 

 sweetish edible pulp. 



Medium-sized evergreen tree becoming 4(V60 

 feet tall and 1-1 V2 feet or more in trunk diameter 

 (recorded to 3 feet), with very widely spreading 

 crown of long branches and thin foliage. The 

 bark is gray brown, smoothish but becoming finely 

 fissured. Inner bark is pinkish to brown and 

 slightly bitter. Twigs are brown and tend to zig- 

 zag, with light colored dots (lenticels), and dense- 

 ly brown hairy when young. 



The leaves 7-12 inches long are borne in 2 

 spreading rows on a twig. The axis 21/2-7 inches 

 long is brown hairy, with a green wing 1/4-% inch 

 broad between each pair of leaflets. Leaflets are 

 2-6 inches long and 1-2% inches wide, larger from 

 base toward apex, long-pointed at apex and short- 

 pointed at base, not toothed, thin and slightly con- 

 vex, the upper surface green, lower surface light 

 green, and both surfaces slightly hairy especially 

 on veins, and also slightly shiny. 



Flowers do not open at the same time, but usu- 

 ally only 1 or 2 daily in each cluster. At dawn the 

 flower is fully expanded, but during the day the 

 stamens and style wither. Flower clusters 

 (spikes) are single or paired at base of a leaf, con- 

 sisting of several stalkless flowers crowded near the 

 end of a hairy green axis 1-21/4 inches long. An 

 individual flower with stamens fully expanded is 

 white and 21/2-3 inches long and 3-3i/^ inches 

 across. A few hours later the flower is greenish, 

 less than % inch long to end of corolla and s/ie 

 inch across corolla lobes, with the twisted pale yel- 

 low stamens drooping li/> inches or less below. 

 The brownish-green finely hairy tubular calyx is 

 cylindrical, Vig-M^ inch long, and 5-toothe-d, often 

 splitting on 1 side; the greenish-yellow corolla 

 densely brown hairy, composed of a narrow cylin- 

 drical tube about % inch long and 5 spreading 

 lobes i/s inch long; the numerous spreading white 

 threadlike stamens are united into a tube inside 

 corolla ; and the white pistil is more than 21^ inches 

 long with narrow ovary and very slender style. 



Inga vera Willd. 



The pod is densely brown hairy and slightly 

 curved, few-seeded, not splitting open, with calyx 

 remaining at base. In flower and fruit through the 

 year, but most fruits appearing in the fall. 



The sapwood is whitish, and heartwood pale 

 brown to golden brown with longitudinal streaks 

 or patches of darker brown often shaded with 

 green or yellow. The wood is moderately hard, 

 moderately heavy (specific gravity 0.59), strong, 

 and tough. It is very susceptible to attack by dry- 

 wood termites and other insects and to decay in 

 contact with the ground. Kate of air-seasoning is 

 rapid, and amount of degrade is moderate. Ma- 

 chining characteristics are as follows: jjlaning, 

 turning, boring, mortising, sanding, and resistance 

 to screw splitting are good; and shaping is poor. 



The wood is used almost solely for posts, fuel, 

 and charcoal. However, it is suitable for utility 

 furniture, boxes, crates, light construction, and 

 general carpentry. 



On lower slopes and along streams this tree 

 grows vei-y rapidly, producing coffee shade within 

 3 years and growing in trunk diameter at a rate 

 sometimes exceeding 1 inch per year. Also a honey 

 plant. 



Common in active and abandoned coffee planta- 

 tions throughout Puerto Rico except in the upper 

 mountain, dry coastal, and dry limestone forest 

 regions. Commonest at the northern base of the 

 lower Cordillera, lower Luquillo, and moist lime- 

 stone regions. 



Public forests. — Carite, Guajataca, Guilarte, 

 Luquillo, Maricao, Rio Abajo, Susua, and Toro 

 Negro. 



Municipalities where especially common. — 

 1, 5, 6, 8, 19, 21, 27, 32, 35, 42, 43, 46, 47, 50, 53, 58, 

 61, 70, 73. 



Range. — Jamaica, Hispaniola, and Puerto Rico. 

 Also introduced in Cuba and Guadeloupe and per- 

 haps elsewhere for coffee shade. 



Other common names. — guaba del pais, guaba 

 nativa (Puerto Rico) ; guama (Dominican Repub- 

 lic) ; guaba (Cuba) ; pois doux, pois sucrin, su- 

 crier, sucrin (Haiti) ; pois doux, pois doux poilu 

 (Guadeloupe) ; pois doux a paille (Guadeloupe, 

 Martinique). 



Named from material collected in Jamaica, this 

 species is the one upon which this large genus was 

 based. It has been reported also from Mexico, 

 Central America, and northern South America but 

 not by authors of the most recent floras. 



Botanical synonym. — /nga inga (L.) Britton. 



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